1932

There is something we can do; we can vaccinate everybody and administer booster shots to keep prevalence low. These mutations come along primarily from immunocompromised people that’re sick with COVID for months. In truth the real danger isn’t in the US or Europe, it’s in sub-Saharan Africa where everybody’s getting COVID and there’s a lot of HIV.

But leaving fantasy-land for a moment, ain’t nobody gonna vaccinate all of Africa, and it’s just the luck of the draw. If that nightmare virus comes along we rich countries will vaccinate and the poor ones will have mass corpse pyres pouring out enough smoke to black out the sun.

1933

Yeah, if it wasn’t for the can’t-be-vaccinated-yet kid I wouldn’t much care at this point. Well, except for the whole “can’t get access to an ICU if you need one” thing, which is kind of terrifying really, especially with elderly parents.

1934

I think we are in exact accord on this one, which was I had already filed it under “something we have no control over so no use worrying about” in my mental filing cabinet.

1935

I definintely know some folks feel like this- I think the politicization of the virus on the right led to some folks on the left, particularly the more leftist sorts, overreacting in the opposite direction.

If we get something 15% fatal with COVID"s virulence, you’d have a Wuhan lockdown and folks would follow it.

If you have a kid under 5 who can’t be vaxxed, well that’s a concern, but it’s possible they decide not to vax until 5 because the risk is so small, it’s on par with a healthy vaxxed adult.

1936

It would be a tough decision with really small kids. But once they are old enough for school I think you have to accept the medical professions expertise.

1937

My wife and I have covid and our high school freshman is begging to get covid so she can take a few weeks off from school.

We keep telling her it’s not a joke and you never know what could happen (we are all vaccinated) but she hates high school more than I ever did and wants anything to get out of going. Damn kids.

1938

Went to my doctor on the 11th for a completely unnecessary visit so he could ensure I still need the anxiety meds I’ve been taking since 2003.

Woke up with multiple symptoms today.

I called for a test, I have to wait 24-48 hours while being in a house with 2 70-year olds. And myself with not great health, but I have x3 vaccine doses. One of the elders has 3 and the other has 2

Edit - All my symptoms disappeared and I am truly immortal.

1939

The Delta variant is no joke. My mum, sister, brother-in-law and their 2 kids all have been (in the past 10 days) or are now isolating with Covid. Of the 6, 5 are double vaccinated. 1, the youngest child in primary school is not.

They still all caught it (by the time the first showed symptoms, it was too late). 2 were feeling quite poorly and were bedridden for 2-3 days (my 75 year old mum and not quite 50 year old brother-in-law). 2 had mild symptoms (mild headaches, feeling a bit tired, nothing some paracetamol could not take care of). The youngest had no symptoms whatsoever and just enjoyed his time off.

I am very thankful they are all double vaccinated. The virus still spread easily between them, but my mum qualifies as someone who would have been at a lot more risk without it.

My mum is also very annoyed as she was due her booster shot 3 days later. Great timing. :)

1940

Ouch. Hope they are through it quickly and out the other side feeling better.

1941

Thanks. Most are. My mum is still struggling to climb stairs or do anything strenuous. My sister in her late 40ies was the last one to catch it and is getting better. She had fairly mild symptoms. Hopefully that’s their immunity sorted for the next few months. :)

It was pretty eye opening seeing all those double vaccinated people catch it within a week of each other though.

1942

Yeah, you’re not kidding.

1943

Indeed, surprised to hear a 50 year old was knocked out so thoroughly.

1944

Me too. He’s the sporty type too. He runs at least twice a week and plays football (aka soccer) once a week.

Goes to show you can’t know what to expect.

1945

Very glad to hear that it sounds like they will all be okay, Wendelius. That’s crazy how much it hit your family.

1946

Went to CVS to get my booster Saturday after going through the online scheduling, which asks among a lot of other questions, which two prior shots you had and which type. I put Moderna for both. Get in to CVS and as I’m sitting down to get the shot the lady says, "wow, you had moderna before and you’re getting the pfizer booster? Apparently they had zero Moderna boosters at all or yesterday, whatever. She asked if I wanted it still and I went with it. Hope that doesn’t fuck up the ongoing level of protection I have too badly or turn me into a zombie.

If I become a zombie it was nice knowing you guys.

1947

Over here they are actually advising one get the “other one” in order to increase the bodys toolbox I guess?

1948

Logically it makes sense that getting a different mRNA vaccine may be better than the same one, but the truth is we don’t really know. It almost certainly isn’t worse.

What we do know is there’s definitely a ranking. Moderna is best, followed closely by Pfizer. Behind that is nearly everything else, all of which work fine but not as well as the mRNA vaccines. Then at the bottom is the Chinese Sinovac which may or may not do a damn thing.

1949

Yeah I was a bit worried but it looks like you can get any of three manufacturer boosters. Still kind of annoying but as long as I keep the rona away or keep from going to the ICU, I’m good with that. Zombies have better COVID protection anyway.

I also chose to get my flu shot as well, in the same arm even. NOT RECOMMENDED for anyone else considering that. I spent most of yesterday napping and avoiding sleeping on that arm.

1950

One thing I learned from this pandemic is that my intuitive understanding of the immune system is… wrong. It’s just so complicated.

1951

Really? It all seems pretty clear-cut to me. MRNA vaccines work amazingly well, Moderna and Pfizer are essentially the same thing, Moderna is just a much higher dosage. Traditional vaccines work too, but they still need to go through full testing. Russia and China skipped testing, Russia got away with it and China didn’t.